2 More Crimes
by knockturnalleys
Summary: BartyRegulus. Muggle!AU. Barty and Regulus spend the night in a cell and the rest of a lifetime together.


**A/N: Written for Hogwarts (Challenges & Assignments) and HPFC.**

* * *

 **2 More Crimes**

Barty Crouch Jr. thought that he had hit rock bottom.

He was caught at the wrong side of the law and with his father the chief of inspector of the Scotland Yard, there was no way he would go away free. Barty Crouch Sr. was that of a man who took the law more serious than the relationship of family.

That was what led him from kicking out his son after the affair.

"And never come near us, or this family ever again!" he roared as his wife cried out for him to stop.

Barty Crouch Jr. found himself walking the streets of London alone at the dead of night.

When the thought that he was probably the only person with this kind of problem he heard shouting from a line of houses at his left side. He turned to see a boy about his age, probably a bit younger, standing at the foot of a house.

"Mother! I am not coming back and you can't make me!" he shouted. Then he turned around, caught Barty's eye, and ran off into the night.

Barty ran after him.

A few minutes later and he had quit the pursuit. He panted and stopped at a streetlight. With his hands on his knees, Barty looked up to see the wall that he was facing had a half finished graffiti on it. Barty looked down at the ground and saw a bag of art tools that the drawer must've left in his haste. Cops? Wondered Barty.

He walked over and knelt down. He picked up a can out of curiosity, it was the colour 'Vanilla'.

No sooner did he do so, Barty heard a loud siren behind him and the flashing of lights.

Barty sighed and held up his hands. A gesture that he had been very accommodated to.

"Officer, I was doing no wrong," he said, as a cop handcuffed him. "I was simply taking a look."

"Tell that to someone who cares," said the officer gruffly, and pushed Barty into the police car.

Barty was in a grouchy mood when he was shoved into the cell, but his day got a lot better when he saw who his cellmate was. "It's you!" he exclaimed in delight at the young man sulking in the corner.

The man looked up. He had dark hair and a rather pasty complexion. There was a smear of paint on his cheek that Barty couldn't help but find adorable.

"My name is Barty," said Barty, holding out his hand for the other man to shake, "What's yours?"

"Mind your own business," the boy growled.

Barty was not discouraged, instead, he was certain that he would get the boy to talk to him. He was interested, in the boy and his story. "So you were the one with the half-drawn graffiti? Do you have any regrets? I suppose you regret not finishing it. I have regrets, I wish I wasn't wearing this shirt. For me, running out of my family is kind of a experiment. But of course I wouldn't thought I would be back to where it all started."

"Will you stop talking?!" growled the boy. He rolled his head back and stared up at the ceiling.

"Not unless you start talking," said Barty, cocking his head side to side.

The boy sighed and turned to look at Barty. "My name is Regulus Black. I ran out of my home. I don't regret not finishing the graffiti, but I do regret getting caught and now have to spend the night with you!"

Barty smirked and rocked back on his iron bench. "Now, that's not so bad, is it?" He asked.

The door of the jail cell opened and a blonde officer stepped in. "Do either of you want to call anybody?" she asked, looking around at both of them with interest.

Barty stood up. He turned back to look at Regulus, asking with his eyes if the his cellmate will be joining him.

"I called my friends the first moment I got here, and unfortunately no one has answered. Or I just don't have that many friends," he said, cracking a smile. This was the first time that Barty saw Regulus smile, and this brought him to smile along too.

"Don't go anywhere," he joked, and walked out of the cell.

Barty had managed to dial the phone numbers of his friends, but none of them answered.

He then went back to the cell, where he relayed everything to his cellmate. "So, how long are we going to stay here together?" asked Regulus to the blonde officer. "Until the morning I suppose. Gentlemen," she said, and locked the door behind her.

Barty tried his hardest to sleep, but it was always impossible to sleep in the confines of a cell. He then preceded to tell Regulus to sleep.

The young lad fell asleep as soon as his eyes were closed. He slumped back onto the cell doors and slid across, his head resting on Barty's shoulder. Barty looked down to the sleeping figure and felt a smile coming on his face.

Barty soon found himself falling asleep after a few hours of staring at the blank wall. But he was awoken by Regulus twitching and yelling out at something that Barty didn't know.

"Wake up Regulus! Wake up!" He yelled, shaking Regulus awake.

"What's going on?" Regulus asked after he opened his eyes. Once he realised he was lying on Barty's shoulder, he immediately straightened, a light blush creeping up his neck.

"You were having a nightmare," said Barty, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. "What was it about?"

Regulus glanced around the cell, as if still in a dream. "I honestly don't remember," he said.

"Your family did you wrong, huh?" guessed Barty. His focus solely on the young boy and his problems.

Regulus laughed coldly. Then deciding that it would be hours before they were allowed out of the cell, he opened up to Barty. He told Barty all about his family, about getting into their horrible business and then getting cold feet.

Barty, seeing that Regulus had let down his walls, returned the favour and told him about life living in the Crouch home.

"We're just two birds of a feather," said Barty, laughing and patting Regulus on the back.

Barty was rather taken aback when he found a tear forming on the corner of Regulus' eyes. "I couldn't have patted the tears out of you!" he exclaimed, holding his hands up in a 'stop' sign.

"I'm sorry," said Regulus, looking away from Barty and to the dusty floor of the cell, "Normally I don't have anyone to talk to about my problems. It's nice to finally talk about them."

Barty felt his heart soar and his stomach drop at the same time. It was a weird feeling. But being with Regulus, wasn't a weird feeling after all.

He scooted forward and was surprised to see Regulus not leaning away from him. He took this as a cue and strung his arms around Regulus' shoulder. Regulus looked up. His eyes shined with tears. Barty reached up and carefully, with his thumb, flicked away the tears.

"As long as I'm alive, I swear to God you'll never feel so helpless." Murmured Barty.

Their lips crashed together and the world turned upside down.

* * *

Walburga Black opened the door the next morning to find her youngest son at the doorway, with his arms around another boy. The boy had a wild look in his eyes, his clothes were unkept and his brown hair tangled in a mess.

"Mother," said Regulus, his face shoed no expression but Barty could feel his boyfriend's hand shaking slightly. "I know I did wrong, running away. This is Barty, I met him last night. Well, I talked to Barty last night and he told me that I might do good, staying with the family. Honestly mother, running away last night was a horrible decision on my part, will you please forgive me." He pleaded.

Barty looked down at Regulus, taking a mental note that he would praise Regulus' sucking up later on.

"Of course I forgive you," said Walburga, smiling fondly at her favourite son. "Come in, come in, I'll fix you for a drink." She waved up at Barty and they entered Grimmauld place.

* * *

"Who did this?" roared Barty Crouch Jr. outside of their door.

 _We r getting married. So thx 4 kicking me out. - B &R_

The line was spray-painted on the doorway of Barty Crouch's house in the colour 'vanilla'.


End file.
